A former student at a for-profit court reporting school that had locations in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington is suing the U.S. Department of Education for not forgiving her student loans.
The school, called the Court Reporting Institute, went out of business.
The school allegedly told students that its three-year program in legal transcription would get them a high-paying job, the Seattle Times reported.
State investigators shut down the school in 2006, saying it used deceptive business practices.
The former student who filed the lawsuit, Christine Gold, said she incurred nearly $36,000 in debt while attending the school.
Borrowers misled by a school are eligible for federal student-loan forgiveness, per the Times.
The nonprofit National Student Legal Defense Network filed the suit in the District of Columbia last week, naming the Department of Education and its secretary, Betsy DeVos, as defendants.
The Department of Education had no comment for the Times because the litigation is pending.
DeVos’ critics say her department has been slow to process claims and is too easy on for-profit colleges.
According to the lawsuit, Gold was the sole earner in her household when she started attending the Court Reporting Institute in 2001. She says she was told by an admissions officer that she would make $65,000 a year after she graduated from a three-year program.
Complaints against the school showed that it repeatedly misrepresented educational practices, instructor qualifications, graduation rates, program length, employment prospects and the amount of financial aid available, and that it did not make mandated changes.
Gold said she never seemed to be making progress toward graduation despite the classes she finished and after nearly three-and-a-half years, she withdrew in 2005 with $35,750 in federal loans.
Because she was unable to pay the money back without a better job and because of interest accrued, she now owes around $62,000.
